A bed for a sick person or the like is generally provided with a function or an apparatus which is of use for the sick person or the like or for a nurse. For example, a certain type of such a bed is provided with an apparatus for helping defication by the sick person or the like, or a raising mechanism for enabling the sick person or the like to sit up.
In order to bathe the sick person or the like, on the other hand, the nurse must generally take the sick person or the like to a bathroom, which is separated from the bed. Due to such a heavy burden of the nurse, the sick person or the like cannot frequently take a bath under such circumstances.
Although there has been proposed a movable bathtub for a sick person or the like, such a movable bathtub is as large as the bed itself. Even if the bathtub is rendered collapsible, a relatively wide space is required for storing the same in an unused state.
The aforementioned problem is aggravated when the sick person or the like is nursed in the home. Since an average home is restricted as to the number of nurses, equipment, etc. it is impossible to satisfactorily bathe the sick person. Considering housing circumstances in Japan, the bed for the sick person or the like is generally placed in a narrow room such as a 6-mat room (about 360.times.270 cm.sup.2) or a 4.5-mat room (about 270.times.270 cm.sup.2). Even if a movable bathtub is employed, such a narrow room is almost occupied by the bed and the bathtub with no allowance for other equipment, instruments, etc., and the nurse is extremely restricted in movement. Under such housing circumstances, further, it is not easy to store such a movable bathtub in another room when the same is not used.